In various segments of the poultry industry, there are instances when recently hatched chicks and poults may not be used for commercial purposes. Chicks and poults that will not be used must be humanely euthanised on a timely basis.

Various euthanasia methods have been developed for hatchery use with maceration, gas euthanasia or a combination of the two systems being the most common.

Despite the current national and international approval of these two primary methods for chick euthanasia, the perspective and humaneness of these methods has been questioned by some retailers, animal activist groups, society and governments.

USPOULTRY said research is needed to objectively evaluate these methods to determine the specific equipment requirements and parameters needed to achieve the required euthanasia outcomes and to develop new and novel alternative methods for humane euthanasia of recently hatched poultry.

The areas of focus for the research will include objective measures to evaluate whether euthanasia methods provide humane euthanasia in recently hatched chicks and poults; evaluate maceration, CO2 gas, and a combination of gas plus maceration as methods of humane euthanasia; and develop alternative methods of humane euthanasia of recently hatched chicks and poults.

The deadline for pre-proposal submission is 6 November, 2015. For more information, go to www.uspoultry.org, and click on “Research” for complete instructions and deadlines.